A Legend Retold
by Paper Yoshi
Summary: A retelling of the very first Zelda game, following Link's journey to find the Triforce of Wisdom. Read this is you've never played the game, everything important plot-wise will be explored, and any additions on my part will be explained


**Chapter 1**

The princess pulled her horse to a stop when she arrived at an opening within the woods and, with a graceful leap from the saddle, she landed on the water drenched ground below. Her elderly attendant, Impa, exhausted and weary, moved slightly off her own horse to follow her, but she was stopped by the princess' sweet voice. "No, Impa,"

Impa was shocked by this, "Princess Zelda, what are you suggesting? You are willing to hand over your power to the prince of darkness?"

"If I continue to flee, that beast will destroy Hyrule. I cannot let my innocent civilians die because of my cowardice. Thus I shall negotiate; their lives for my freedom,"

Impa paused, trying to think of an argument against the princess' decision, but it was hopeless. Hyrule was now fated to fall into the hands of the fiend, Ganon, and any attempts to thwart his inevitable reign would be doomed to fail.

The rain became heavy, drowning out all of the ambience surrounding the two, creating an eerie, haunted atmosphere which Zelda felt compelled to break, "Impa, there is still something you can do. Many years ago, my mother came across a baby nestled within a bush outside of the castle grounds. When she held the young boy, the back of his hand revealed a gold symbol,"

As she said this, she pulled off a thin leather glove and held up her hand. A majestic shape faded onto the back, shining a bright light onto the tired Impa, giving her a sense of rejuvenation.

With a dedicated knowledge of the Royal Family and their historical scriptures, Impa instantly knew what this meant, "You mean that child held the power of a Triforce?"

"Indeed. The spirit of the Triforce of Courage was within his young, fragile body. I was just a girl at the time; I did not know what all of this meant,"

"So, the Triforce of Courage is with this boy, whilst you hold the Triforce of Wisdom. That leaves Ganon, who stole the Triforce of Power many years ago, using it to gain the strength he so strongly desired,"

"Indeed. To help prevent Ganon's assault when he completed this transformation and collected his army of minions, my mother sent the child away to a distant land, and she told me, when the time was right, I would have to find a way to bring the child back into Hyrule, as only a hero with power equalling that of Ganon would finally be able to put him to rest. This appears to be the time which my mother foretold,"

Impa realised what Zelda was asking of her, and looked down at her in horror, "I am to enlist the child into this bloody war?"

"Right now, we have no choice. I am sorry, but we must ask so much of this child, for the sake of Hyrule, for the sake of our people,"

Impa sighed but nodded gently. A hellish roar erupted from deeper within the woods, and whilst Impa jumped in terror, Zelda didn't even flinch.

"They are here." Zelda took out a scrap of paper, "Impa, take this map; it details the route which you should take in order to leave these woods," she put it into the wrinkled hand of her maid, "I am told the boy was left in the first village you shall come across outside of Hyrule's border. I am afraid I do not know anymore of him. When you meet him, tell him of his heritage, and the role he will play as our saviour, he will hopefully understand. Upon returning, take him to Rauron, the wise old elder in southern Hyrule; he will instruct the hero and send him on his quest,"

Impa, holding back her tears for the sake of the brave princess, nodded in agreement. The roaring of the beasts began to grow louder with every raindrop.

"Go! Go and find the hero!"

Impa tightened her cloak and pulled the horse's reigns. With a lurch forward, she was soon under the cover of the trees, and eventually she disappeared into the lost darkness of the woods, leaving Zelda alone with the emerging horde, and at the head of which was the prince of darkness himself, Ganon, a threatening pig-like creature wearing a thin crimson cape, riding atop the back of a red-eyed boar, the only animal strong enough to hold the powerful deity. Upon seeing this, Zelda's white horse kicked out violently, and fled deeper into the woods out of fear.

"At last, princess, I have found you!" Ganon cheered, raising his trident above his head victoriously, "are you willing to surrender the Triforce of Wisdom?"

Zelda did not turn to face the beast; instead she looked to her feet. This angered Ganon, who, with a quick swipe of his trident, threw Zelda to the ground.

"Answer me!" he screamed, showing the black fangs beneath his cold blue lips.

"I- I do not have it..." Zelda whimpered.

Ganon was taken aback by this, "What do you mean!? Your bloodline is infused with Wisdom! You cannot simply lose such power!"

Zelda stumbled to her feet, her robe coated in mud, and she stared at Ganon, "The Triforce is not a singular object, surely you know that? It has a physical form and a spiritual energy. Knowing you would eventually become powerful enough to steal it from me and my family, I broke the physical form into 8 pieces, and I kept the spiritual energy within me,"

"No- No! That means I cannot come to power!" Ganon struck one of his own minions, turning it into a plume of dark smoke, "Wait... I shall simply send some of my minions to find your precious pieces. And then, once I unite them once more, I can harness their energy!" he grinned maniacally, "Hah, Zelda, your plan has failed. Now you shall die by my hand,"

Ganon clutched his trident and drove it toward Zelda, who stood perfectly still despite the threat of the oncoming weapon. When she knew the time was right, Zelda held out her hand and magically summoned a triangular, golden shield which shattered the trident upon contact.

"Gah! My Trident!" Ganon cried.

"Did you forget so soon, you miserable creature? I hold the power of a Triforce; I can still protect myself from your attacks. Even still, if you were to slay me, the spirit of Wisdom would die within my empty shell, and the Triforce would never be united. You, Ganon, would never gain the strength you truly aim to obtain,"

Ganon snarled, but reluctantly turned his boar the other way, and went slowly back into the wood.

"I doubt your power will be able to protect you from all of my minions at once, princess," He pointed towards his army, now speaking in a serious tone of voice, "capture her and seal her away in my dungeon. We still need her for when we acquire the pieces of Wisdom,"

The legion of minions moved towards Zelda, who lashed out with magic, but she was soon overpowered, and eventually she was knocked out by a blunt weapon to the back of her head. As the minions went to follow Ganon, two creatures with distinct dog-like features, which Ganon had designated "Moblins", took it upon themselves to carry the unconscious princess through the relentless downpour.

After weaving through trees and shrubbery, the horde was out of the woods, emerging on a cliff edge which looked down upon the kingdom of Hyrule, with its wide-reaching grassy plains, beautiful lakes, and a majestic castle, which was now a pile of rubble after Ganon's initial search for the princess.

Ganon stood at the front of his army and held out his clawed, blue hand to reveal a shining symbol, identical in shape to that of Zelda's. After a short time basking in its beautiful golden light, the hand formed a fist.

"Now I shall rule this Kingdom. Every village, every town, every single province that resides on this pitiable rock shall belong to me, the Prince of Darkness, Ganon!"


End file.
